July 6th

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy (81), soul singer Gene 'Duke of Earl' Chandler (81), country rock fiddler Byron Berline (74), Nanci Griffith (65), classical violinist Anthony Marwood 63), Wu-Tang Clan rapper Inspectah Deck [né Jason Hunter] (48), 50 Cent [né Curtis Jackson] (43), country singer Emily West (37), and Kate Nash (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for operatic soprano Dorothy Kirsten, born on on this day in 1910... for jazz drummer Louie Bellson, born in 1924... for original Shadows bassist Terry 'Jet' Harris, who would have been 79... for jazz and R&B singer Phyllis Hyman, who would have been 69... for bassist and Bill Evans sideman Scott Faro, killed in an auto accident today in 1961 at the age of 25... for Louis Armstrong, who died on this date in 1971... for conductor Otto Klemperer, who died in 1973... for soul producer & songwriter [best remembered for 'The Hustle'] Van McCoy, who passed away in 1979... for Roy Rogers, who died in 1998... for classical pianist Władysław Szpilman [the subject of the Roman Polanski film 'The Pianist'], who passed away in 2000... and for Byrds bassist Skip Battin, who left us in 2003. 

Also on July 6th: In Paris, 19-year-old composer Lili Boulanger becomes the first woman to win the Prix de Rome award (1913)... At a Woolton, Liverpool Parish Church Fete, John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time. As Lennon's group The Quarrymen are setting up for their evening performance, McCartney, eager to impress Lennon, picks up a guitar and plays Eddie Cochran's ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ and Gene Vincent's ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’. John is impressed, and even more so when Paul shows Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars, something they have been paying someone else to do for them (1957)... James Brown peaks at № 2 on the US album chart with Live At The Apollo. Recorded on the night of October 24, 1962 at Brown's own expense, it will spend a total of 66 weeks in the Top 40 Billboard Album listing (1963)... The Beatles' film 'A Hard Day's Night' has its UK premiere at the Pavilion Cinema in London (1964)... Pink Floyd make their first appearance on Top Of The Pops to promote their new single ‘See Emily Play’. A badly damaged home video recording of the show recovered by the British Film Institute will be given a public screening in London in January 2010 at an event called 'Missing Believed Wiped' devoted to recovered TV shows. It is the first time any footage of the performance has been seen since its original broadcast (1967)... The Rolling Stones score their fifth US № 1 single with 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' (1968)... 
Queen release their debut single 'Keep Yourself Alive' in the UK. The track fails to chart (1973)... The B-52's self-titled debut album is released by WB Records (1979)...  The Jacksons kick off the North American leg of their 'Victory' tour at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (1984)... Boy band East 17 are dropped by their record company when their latest album drops off the charts after selling fewer than 20,000 copies (1999)... George Harrison's widow Olivia puts the couple's home up for sale for £20 million, saying she can't bear to live with the memories of the attack by schizophrenic Michael Abram who broke into the house in 1999 (2002)... The Dixie Chicks perform a concert at Dallas' American Airlines Center despite an anonymous threat that group member Natalie Maines will be shot on stage for her comments about President George W. Bush, and the Iraq war. Maines has a police escort to and from the show and then directly to the airport (2003)... On the 40th anniversary of the UK premiere of 'A Hard Day's Night', a private reunion of the cast and crew is hosted in London by DVD producer Martin Lewis. The screening is attended by Paul McCartney, actors Victor Spinetti [the television director], John Junkin [the band's road manager], David Janson [the small boy whom Ringo meets on his 'walkabout'] and many of the crew members (2004).